


I For One, And You For Two

by orphan_account



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Karnaca, M/M, Major Character Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Rating will probs be bumped up later, Serkonos, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 16:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5633056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Corvo never becomes Lord Protector but instead stays as an Officer of the Grand Serkonan Guard. Five years after his fated Blade Verbena, Corvo investigates a string of murders in Karnaca that drag him down a dark path, making him question allegiances and revisit the past. (Will add tags, really wanted to take this slow).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heh, first fanfic on this account! Will update weekly-ish? We'll see. Chapters will be longer than this first one sorry about that! Watch the Dishonored 2 Announcement Trailer to get an idea of what Karnaca and Corvo's uniform (probably) looks like.
> 
> Title comes from the song Lungs by Townes Van Zandt. Love the bitterness and spookiness in the song, it fits.

1819, Summer

\---

The sun was still in the east but the heat had already beat down on the city. Corvo walked down the small residential street, buildings packed in next to one another but the road nearly devoid of people. Gulls cried overhead, the smell of fish in the air. He ducked under an awning for a reprieve, collar already slick with sweat, his short haircut giving him little relief. He gave silent praise when a forgiving breeze from the coast blew through.

Checking the building down the street, the address number's paint was nearly peeled off. This was the place. He ventured from the safety of the awning to face the sweltering sun again, eyeing an alleyway he came near. 

Someone stared back from the shadows. Corvo paused at the entrance of the alley. Sitting against the wall in tattered clothes, a girl around thirteen turned her head to see the Guard standing in front of her.

He crouched to her height, offering her a reassuring smile but it only seemed to have put her on edge. Her lips trembled but found words.

"What is it? Am I being arrested?" Her voice was clear and low, her tone suspicious.

Corvo shook his head. "How long have you been here?" 

The girl's eyes widened. "Look, I'm not causing any trouble loitering. I'll... just be on my way." She started to get up.

"No, you're not in trouble, you can stay there if you want." She paused mid-stand and sat back down. 

"I just wanted to know if you've seen anything suspicious while you were sitting here." He dug into his pocket for some coin.

"You don't have to pay me." Corvo looked up to see the girl staring intently at the ground. "I-I haven't seen anything, sorry." He fished in his pocket again and set some money on the ground by her hand anyway. She didn't move.

Corvo stood back up and turned back towards the building. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl sneaking a look at the roofs above them. Corvo followed her gaze towards the rooftops but only saw clear skies and seagulls. He sighed as he left the girl in the alleyway and into the building of the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for murder, corpses, and blood. Also, I don't know anything about murder investigations beyond what I've seen in shows and movies lol.

Corvo was greeted by two Guards at the end of the dingy hallway, standing in front of a door left slightly ajar. They stood to attention when they saw Corvo approach.

"Oh, Officer Attano! We didn't know that you were going to be on the case," the bright eyed Guard said. The other grunted and frowned.

Corvo simply nodded and flicked his eyes towards the door. "Another homicide? Who called it in and when?"

"The land lady, an hour ago. Passed by and noticed the blood seeping from under the door. She sent a telegram, we were the first to show up," said the cheery one.

Corvo tilted his head. "Anyone else come by?" The talkative one opened his mouth but closed it.

"No one else but us," the grumpy one stated bluntly. Corvo forced himself to nod casually. He decided to move on.

"Was the door locked or open when you got here?"

"Land lady unlocked the door for us. Lock wasn't broken or forced."

"Okay. Well, let's see the body." The other two guards moved out of his way as he opened the door and carefully toed around the pool of blood. Corvo looked up from the blood to see the rest of the dusty room. Windows were on the other side of the room, the wooden shutters slightly open. Slats of light and shadow came to rest on the body, which was lying face up in the middle of the sparsely furnished room.

Corvo slid inside and walked around the body, noticing a gap between the it and where the blood pooled. The victim's face looked like it was hastily wiped clean, smears of blood still on his cheek.

"Did the land lady say she went in the room?"

"No, she said she didn't open the door before we got here."

"Well, did you find the body like this?" Corvo gestured impatiently at the body.

The cheery one fidgeted. "Well, I mean- yes, we turned the body and wiped the blood off his face to see if we could identify him. Were we not supposed to do that?"

Corvo managed to not roll his eyes. "No, no you weren't supposed to before I got here, but it's fine this time." It really wasn't, but by the look of the grumpy one, Corvo decided against deriding them more. It's not like Corvo needed more enemies.

He turned back to the victim. The cause of death was obvious, a clear cut to the throat. Looking at the sprays of blood on the walls, it was clear that the victim was standing when his throat was cut and that he died on the floor where he lost the most blood. The kill was clean and it looked like he had died quickly. Professional, or at least very skilled. This was like the other murders cropping up around the city the past month. Corvo hadn't been assigned to all the investigations, but by the notes that he and the other Officers had shared, the MO was the same.

Corvo examined the rest of the body. Even through the stains, Corvo could tell that the victim's clothes were nice. He crouched down and carefully patted the victim's vest, feeling through the pockets. Nothing inside. Corvo looked up at the Guards.

"Any identification? Could the land lady tell us who he is?"

"We showed her the body after she opened the door for us, didn't recognize it. Found this on the windowsill." The grumpy Guard handed him a card. Corvo gave him a frown before looking down at the piece of paper. A law firm. Corvo stalked over to the windowsill.

The sill was slightly dusty. He could locate a rectangle shape from where the card had laid. Corvo's eye caught another form in the dust, a curious 'y' shape.

Corvo pointed at the sill. "Do you have the item that was here?"

The chatty Guard looked over from the hallway. "No, no we just came in, turned the body and found the card. Nothin' else on the window sill."

Corvo turned away from the Guards and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. The only clue that could have lead him anywhere was the card, but his thoughts kept tugging at him; this missing item could've helped him. Guards were frequently bribed to look the other way before an Officer came to a crime scene. Corvo wondered if someone had bribed these Guards, or maybe they were just too dense to really notice anything amiss...

Opening his eyes to gaze out the window, Corvo spoke. "Did the land lady say who rents out this room?"

"No one was renting, too hot for vacation season and all. She still has the keys and records, if you want to go ask."

Corvo gingerly pushed the window open, the wood creaking on its metal hinges. He shook his head. "No need."

This was the first floor and the window's locks were busted. The murderer didn't need a key to get inside; they (and the victim) could have practically waltzed in from outside. Corvo raised his voice to call back behind him.

"Tell the land lady to get better locks. I don't think any tourist would want to board here if they knew how cheap security means to her." The cheerful Guard chuckled stiffly.

Corvo turned back towards the body and kneeled by it, pulling out a small notebook. He began sketching the victim's face.

"What's that for?," the gruff one asked.

"I'm going to show the sketch to the people down at that law firm. Still don't have identification." Corvo stood back up, crept around the blood, and stepped back into the hallway.

"Please call for the morgue to pick the body up, it won't be long before it starts to smell," Corvo informed them. Grumpy grunted a vague affirmative.

Corvo bid them a good day as he turned to leave. When they thought that Corvo was out of earshot, he overheard the grumpy one's mumbling.

"Why should we take orders from him? So small and dandy." The pained noise of his partner elbowing him roughly in the ribs followed.

"Unless you want to lose an eye, you best shut it."

Corvo sighed but didn't bother turning around to confront them.

The heat crept up as Corvo approached the exit and it slammed him like a wall once he stepped outside, already beginning to sweat. He looked up at the sky and saw the sun at its highest point.

As he walked down the street to head towards the law firm, Corvo's left hand began to throb. He quickly shook it to distract from the pain. Not today, Corvo told himself. He turned a corner and started heading down the avenue.

"Wait! Wait!"

Corvo whipped around to see the girl from the alleyway running down the street, her dirty clothes clinging on to her sweat. When she caught up to him, she took Corvo's hand with both of hers and shook furiously. Confused by the gesture, Corvo's brows deepened when he felt something press into his palm. He grabbed the object as she let go of his hand. After frantically looking around to see if anybody was watching, the girl took a deep breath and finally looked Corvo in the eye.

"He wanted you to have it."

She immediately looked down again. Just as Corvo was opening his mouth, he saw another girl come running towards them, gangling limbs trailing after her giggles.

"Billie! Why did you bolt in the middle of-," the other girl stopped short once she caught sight of Corvo's uniform. The girl - Billie - cursed under her breath before turning around and running back to her friend. Billie grabbed the friend's arm and urged her to move. The friend glanced between Corvo and Billie as she turned to run. Billie didn't give a second look back as they rounded a corner and disappeared.

Dumbfounded by the strange occurrence, Corvo almost forgot the object in his hand. A small and lightweight thing, he looked down at his palm and froze. It was 'y' shaped, like from the windowsill. It was a bone charm. Corvo ran after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to age up Billie, at this time she would've be like five, what a baby. Tell me what you think so far in the comments below!


End file.
